Shock absorber



Jan 6, 1931. D. H. SWEET SHOCK ABSORBER .4 Sheets-SheetL l Original Filed Feb. .12, 1924 [000 [AUP D. H. SWEET SHOCK ABSORBER Jan 6, 1931.

4 Sheets-Sheet- 2 original Filed Feb. 12 1924 Jan 6, 1931. D. H. SWEET 1,787,602

SHOCK ABSORBER Original Filed Feb. l2' 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 ilmiiiiiillllllllm lll-lllllllllllllliw f :L E *Y |:mz:

Inventor Jan 6, 1931. l D. H. SWEET 1,787,602

SHOCK ABSORBER Original Filed Feb. l2'. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet. 4

3\ I 132 l 9 f f y /f v kr l f /28/ I u l 720 i l' 4 j] i 2f I g'l \v k 44 j 142 248 145 152 N/62H77" Patentecl Jan. 6, 1931 UNITED `STATas Dolmar. swear, or'rvarrsfjrelrrrrrrolsf i vsnoer Arsenault Application ineaY February .12, '19724, semina. @512,261.1` vRenewed Jamiary 12,1929.

My invention relatestoshock absorbers. 'i

` The conditions o fmoveinent-to whichthe running gear and Chassis of, -a motorV lvehicle l f are-Subieted in passing over an irregular s road surface are peculiar, and theinost ef,

fective compensation f oran kelimination of the shocks received from such irregularities i iS dynamically tar from a Simple problema- Consider the hypothetical case' of a car io having a manually controlled means for resisting any relative movement of the running gear andv chassis androperating at such speed that manual centrolj ofthe absorption of each dis lacement is practicable, Y

i5. i luring anydeparturey from normalk positioning, Athe `application of.V theabsorber 'would onlyv increase the energy imparted to the chassis by thefunavoidable displacement of the runninggear. Therefore, during such Zcdisplacement, the operator wouldl apply no frictiong` During the return movement,

however, the Yoperator would apply sufficient friction to bring thechassisto rest again in precisely normal position,

'25 Let us assume next,l another step toward the actual case, that the total absorbing ca-j pacity of the deviceprovided'is insuiiicient to completely absorb the recoil from many ofthe more severe' shocksgencountered. In

so the case of a shock too great vto be absorbed ,i during the` return movementg,y the operator j would absorb all the energy `he could with the means at his control. absorption would continue if the. chassis were moving downward until the downward movement stopped, andif it were moving upward, unf.y

tilv it had to be relieved to prevent-. lifting.

the running gear off the ground.; The second return movement toward normal would also 4.0 be damped, and so on until equilibrium was reestablished. l .g l y lVhile it is impossible, on account. of'` the violence and speed of the movements, if

for no other reason, to controlE the absorption manually, it is possible to provide auto'- matic means for very closely approximating the performance that wouldv resultfrom hu-l f man intelligence if it could be applied.` In the .accompanying drawings :V Fig. 1 is a force diaglgram;A

Fig. 2 vis a side elevationof oneV type of shook labsorber according to` the invention; Fig.'3 isa side elevation of the other` side ofthedrumgff Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. lgis a "developed section as` on line i 5-5 of Figure y6 through. one set of direction and position cams;y

. force curve of the springp The shaded areas represent the energy'absorbed by the ab- Y .sorber shown in Figs. 2 to 6, inclusive. :For kinsta nce,a sudden elevation of thev axle for ten inches'would carry one to point 10V at the lower` left-hand corner of the diagram,

.with the chassis ten inches too close tothe aXle,1and-a net `unbalanced restoring force of a thousand pounds (1,000)V tending to produce upward movement of the chassis. DuringV this movement the shock absorber does nothing.

A @the beginning of the return movement,

the full unbalanced `force of one thousand pounds is permitted to act for ya Arelatively short time,to let the return movement start 85` assoon as possible. Friction is applied in rapidly increasing amount, until the line 12 represents all ofthe restoring force still permitted to become effective on the chassis, the rest beingabsorbed by the shock absorber. During the return movement to one inch displacement, absorptionv continues, being always somewhat less than the total restoring force available. e f

If, ,now,the recoil carries the chassis past nor-mal position, or if the running gear should come to a depression, theaction would be the same in areversed sense. Thus, the upward 'Y displacement topoint 14:V would occur without any action on the part 9i the sneek. absorber, i00- lbut during the return movement, the shaded ceive a plurality, in this instance 3, of clutch?- plates 32,'each clutch plate having annular facings 34y of friction material bolted on both sides thereof.

Drum24 is suitably bolted to arm 20`and splined at 361:0 receive clutch plates 38 alternated with clutch plates A32. The outer clutch 3 8 has a friction facing 40'on oneside only.v` 7 i Y Y Against Athis last friction facing'bears the directionY master plate 42 sliding on splines 28 and carrying two inner direction cams 44 and two outer'direction cams 46. Direction cams44 engage cooperating directioncams 48 on aninner cam ring 50, and direction cams 46 engage cooperatingdirection cams 52 onan outer cam ring 54.

Outside` the cam rings lies the position masterplate 56, splined on splines 36 `andl1eld in place with a predeterminedamount of play by-leaf spring 58 fastened by nut 60.

"The cam rings, themselves, each have two ing cam surfaces 64 on master plate 56. The cams on master-plate 56 Vat all timesproject betw eenthe flanges ofthe cam ringstoguide' .them`. Y

On reference to Fig. 5, it'will be apparent that relative movement between 'cam ring and direction plate 42 can occur to the extent ofthe lost Ymotion between them', until `tongue 66 and shoulder 68 oneachrringcam encounter groove 70` and'shou'lderV 72A of .the plate cam. Displacement in the Aopposite engaging shoulders at74 in Fig. 5.- 4

`rlhe direction cams 44, 48sh'own in 5v slope in one direction, and the position cams 62, 64 in theother. The position cmsnan producel a maximum dis'placement'or aX-i'al" talre-up'substantially twice that of the directien cams. It Vwill be apparent Ythat movement of part 42 upward, as seen in Fig. 5,

- will shift ring over into contact with'directionplate 56, but the limit of lost motion will thenvv be reached, Aand the rest 'offany ward displacement of part 42 will introduce 1 axial clearance by reasonvl of 'therel'ative displacement of the position cams. "When part '42 returns to? the position shown, and goes beyond it downwardv` to thelimit of motion, Vtheposition cams willtakeu'p'the axial` lost motion shown, andwhen' vpart Starts` direction is similarly limited by the inter- ,Y

back up, the axial displacement of the direction cams will be added to that of the position cams, spring 58 will be compressed and friction will be applied. The movement necessary to apply the maximum friction will be represented in Fig. 1 by movement from point 1'0 to the lower end of line'12,fand the slope of thelineidefining the absorption area willbe dependent on the pitch of the direction "Io'nakesureV the direction cams will always-go their limit of motion before the rings move with respect to the plate 56, I

may provide a-sinusoidal leaf'spring 63 with a friction facing 65 rubbing on the flanges of the rI-i/JS-gjr 5 'i y l l it' Y' During the restfofthereturn movement to theposition shown in F ign-'5, the gradual re-` leaseof spring 58byfthe yposition camsisy elements, and develop the absorption area on the right of' the diagram' in Fig'll. relatively long helicalfcam surfaces62 coopern `atingwith circular ribs providing cooperat# vConsider, n ow an 'initial `displacement of only five inche's-As indicated on thediagram, the full 'restoring force available wili `still be permitted to 'act at the beginning of thel returnV movement, and the smaller absorption area will be a fairly precise replica of the larger one developed byA a ten inch displacement. A `f "Io assistin dissipatingthe vheat generated in the absorber, I may make pin 26 hollow and provide it withan'v air horn 7 6 facing forward', so 4that the movement 'of thev vehicle will provide' air cooling through the center of the device. f f

'Referring now tri- Figs and v8, I have illustratedano'uter 'drum' 78' provided with air vcooling vflanges 80, and carrying an upper armi 82. The 'other Wfriction element is an expanding internal brakeshoe 84, split at 86 'a'.n'd expanded by rotation ofthe flattened *shaft 88Aifn either direction. The lower arm The'direction cams associated with the outer ring'will operate to compress the clutch ment Vwill tend to rotate shaft 88m the oppov that clockwise movement of yoke 90,A will drag shoe 84 with it, and tend to rotate shaft 88 counter-clockwise and expand the shoe to apply friction. rIhis action is entirely prevented by the lower roller 106 riding on the surface 110, which is concentric with the axis of the device. After any such displacement, the returning counter-clockwise movesite direction, and the upper roller 106 will have moved down on cam surface 108 so that such movement can occur and the braking force will be applied. During the return movement, the increasing radius of the surface 108 will determine the application of friction according to any arbitrary curve desired. Referring now connected to one of the parts having relative movement, and piston rod 114 is connected to the other. rlhe cylinder may obviously be filled with any fluid, either liquid or gas.

Piping connects the upper port 116 and the lower port 118 with the central port 120. Check valve 122 permitsflow only toward port 120 and check valve 124 also permits flow only toward the center. It will be apparent that piston 126 may be displaced in either direction and encounter substantially no resistance, but that upon any return movement toward the position shown, the entire volume between the piston and the remote end of the cylinder will be trapped and forced to leak backr around the piston and through aperture 128. With aperture 128 of constant area, this system is sensitive, not to displacement, but to velocity, and unless it is so large that the chassis cannot return to normal position within a reasonable length of time, it will not develop its maximuindamping effect until a relatively large proportion of the recoil movement has occurred, and an undesirably high velocity of movement has been developed.

To correct for this defect, I arrange to vary the sensitivity of the damping 'as a function of displacement. The means I have illustrated comprise a rod 130V of varying diameter. It will be obvious that an extreme displacement of lpiston 126 will move it up to a larger diameter on rod 130, decreasing the area through which the fluid can pass the piston, and increasing the forces that will be developed by a given velocity.

It will be apparent that such a system need knot be limited toforces less than the netrestoring force for the corresponding position at all points. I

yTo assist in keeping the system properly filledvin case a liquid is employed, I have illustrated a primary packing 132 at the top, which may be relatively loose, and a chamber 134 formed in the retaining nut for packing 132, into which chamber any liquid leaking past the packing will pass and accumulate,

to Fig. 9, cylinder 112 is.

Y axle.

relatively sharp edge 136, and'further con-- inedv to the chamber by a secondary packing 138`f,gcompressed by thelinal nut 140.

-t thelower end, nut 142 compresses the primary packing 144, and has one or more bosses 146- for 'holding the intermediate chamberV member 148 spaced-from' the bottom thereof. Chamber 150A is formed in memberf148 so as tonlie chiefly above the botton-rj'of nut 142 so: that afterl'slight leakage nut 142'wi'll'always be immersed in liquid.

It only remains to= provide a secondary'packing 152 and nut 154v similar to" those employed at the upper end. Y

Displacement Ofv the' chassis toward the area somewhat :smaller `than that on the! right, and that` the embodiments of the in- Y vention illustrated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 can f easily be adjusted in a similar way.

lllithoutfurther elaboration, the foregoing willsol fullyexplain the gist of my in-' vention that others may, by applying cur-f rent'knowl'edge, readily adapt the same ffor use-'undervarious-conditions of service,with

out'eliminating certain features which may properly be` said to constitute the vessential items off-novelty involved, which items are intended 4to be `defined and secured to mel A by the following claims.

I claim: i

It lwill-be noted that in 1. In'combnation, an axle; a chassis;'fric tion means for resisting movement between saidvaxle and chassis; and cam control means for, firstly, rendering the friction relatively smallon; an excursion away from normal in either' direction; secondly, for applying friction in gradually increasing amounts during the return movement up. to a maximum not materially greaterv than the unbalanced force on the chassis at thepoint of maximum friction; and thirdly, for reducing the friction during the remainder of the movement to keep it lessthan the unbalanced force, said means including a singleset of cams forperforming said first and third operations.

llG

2. In combination, an axle; a chassis; friction means for resisting movement between said axle and chassis; and cam control means for,firstly, rendering the friction relatively small on an excursion away from normal in either direction; secondly, for applying friction during a fraction of the return movement in relatively small initial amounts to ing a position cam exerting a tendency to protY i 1,787,602 -i permit rapid acceleration at first and increas ing the friction up to a maximum not mates, a rially greater' than the vunbalanced forceon the chassis at the pointof maximum friction;

Aand thirdly, for reducing the Vfriction during the remainder of the return movement to keep it less than the unbalanced force; said means including a single set of cams for performing said first and third operations.

3. In combination, an axle ;a chassis 51 fric-..- 'f tion means for 'resisting1movementbet-ween said axle and chassis; va set of camsoperative only when the chassis is above normal position for resisting downward movement; andV another setA of cams operativeV only lwhen the chassis is below normal position-*for resisting upward movement, each set of'cams includduce friction in amounts increasing as. the displacement from normal increases, and a di#y rectioncam operated only by movement to,-

ward normal position to exert a tendency to produce friction in increasing amounts up to a predetermined limit only.

4. In combination, an axle; .a chassis; friction means for resisting movement between said axle and chassis; a set of cams operative only when the chassis is above normal position for resisting downward movement;

and another set of cams operative only when the chassis is below-normal position for resisting upward movement, eacli set of cams including a position cam exerting a tendency to produce friction in amounts increasing as the displacement from normal increases, and n a direction cam operated only by movementtoward normal position to exert atendency to produce frictionin increasing amounts.

5. In combination, an axle; a chassis; fric# tion means for.y resisting relative `movement between said axle and'chassis; ax-set'of cams operative tomove said friction means into engagement only on return movement toward normal from above; a set of cams operative to move said friction meansinto engagement only on return movement toward normal from below; and connections rendering said friction means responsive to eitherv ,set of cams.

my name this 11th day of February, 1924.

DONALD H. SWEET.;

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe 

